Immunocytological Distribution of the Tumor Antigen

Serum levels of the cervical cancer associated antigen (TA‐4) have been well correlated with clinical staging of cervical cancer and the response to surgery or radiation therapy. We studied immunohistologically the distribution of TA‐4 in normal and neoplastic cervical tissue. TA‐4 was localized to epithelial tissue of the uterine cervix. During squamous maturation of the cervix, TA‐4 was expressed first in the nucleus and then in the cytoplasm of the original epithelium or the columnar epithelium with squamous metaplasia. Therefore, TA‐4 seems to be associated with squamous maturation or metaplasia. The intensity of TA‐4 staining in neoplastic regions was greater than in normal epithelium. Thus TA‐4 might be related to carcinogenesis of the cervix.